Pruftechnik Blog

laser shaft alignment

Innovators or Imitators?

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ROTALIGNIt looks like we’ve struck a nerve in the laser shaft alignment market with our announcement of Adaptive Alignment systems.

All of a sudden, various forms of the word “adaptable” have been popping up on social media posts about laser alignment systems that do not possess Adaptive Alignment technology.

We at PRUFTECHNIK are glad to see others admit that adaptability is indeed a valuable must-have in laser alignment systems. We welcome them to the conversation.

Of course, it’s easy to use words like “adaptable” in a social media post. The hard part is actually engineering Adaptive Alignment capabilities into a laser alignment system. By that, we mean features that make adaptability happen during an alignment job, – such as single-laser technology and Active Situational Intelligence (see our white paper here).

Breakthrough engineering work is what separates innovators from imitators. PRUFTECHNIK—the undisputed world leader in laser shaft alignment—has continued to revolutionize with patented inventions that are realized in our Adaptive Alignment solutions.

But when many vendors freely use the word “adaptable,” how can maintenance practitioners separate true Adaptive Alignment systems that deliver higher precision with faster job completion from imitators that still operate in a basic way?

By asking, “How.”  How do systems claiming to be adaptable actually deliver Adaptive Alignment benefits?  Here are some specific questions:

  • Does the system include single-laser technology?
    If not, it cannot adapt to situations such as large misalignments. Common workarounds that add time and potentially compromise precision include recommendations to do “rough alignment” or “pre-alignment” before tackling the rest of the job.
  • Does the system deliver real-time feedback during, as opposed to after, the measurement?
    If not, it is not adapting to user needs.
  • Does the system automatically detect and eliminate coupling backlash as measurements are taken?
    Basic systems leave it up to the user to make sure backlash is not influencing the measurement.
  • Does the system include the ability to share measurements over the cloud to support team collaboration?
    If not, the technician is on his own at the machine, and the system is not adapting to teams that need collaborative capabilities
  • Is the system automatically aware of and can handle uncoupled shafts?
    A common installation-time need, Uncoupled Shaft Awareness, eliminates the manual positioning exercises commonly needed with basic alignment systems.

There are other questions that practitioners could and should ask before investing in a laser shaft alignment system. If you want to know what they are, don’t hesitate to contact us.

In the meantime, we at PRUFTECHNIK, a division of Fluke Reliability, welcome the marketplace validation of the value of Adaptive Alignment.

As with any advance that is imitated, sly usage of similar terms can make it difficult for users to separate the innovation from the imitation. We encourage maintenance leaders to learn about the key ingredients of Adaptive Alignment – which they can do here.

In the end, it’s not merely a battle over the meaning of the word “adaptable.” For maintenance teams charged with keeping their machines at peak performance while operating at peak efficiency themselves, Adaptive Alignment is one key to a successful future.

If you’d like to learn more about our Adaptive Alignment systems, we suggest digging into the information on this page or getting in touch with your PRUFTECHNIK sales representative today!

What does it mean for a laser shaft alignment system to be ‘adaptive’?

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Adaptive AlignmentAdaptive, adaptable. What’s the difference?

If you want the ultimate in shaft alignment technology, the difference is huge. It’s the difference between maximizing production time and team efficiency or squandering time and money.  It’s the difference between minimizing downtime or watching the clock tick as the maintenance team tries to apply an “adaptable” solution to a complicated situation.

Above all, it’s the advantage a company gains when it uses alignment systems that minimize human error while delivering new levels of accuracy and speed.

That’s the promise of Adaptive (not adaptable) Alignment. Delivering on this promise means capitalizing on the core innovations of single-laser technology and Active Situational Intelligence. We own patents for these and other fundamental Adaptive Alignment components.

Here’s a quick refresher course on what makes Adaptive Alignment genuinely adaptive.

  • Single-laser technology. A system with just one laser and one sensor speeds set up and eliminates the frustration and risk of inaccuracies that occur when working with two lasers firing in opposite directions. It also enables the faster completion of alignment tasks and results in higher precision.
  • Active Situational Intelligence (ASI). This analytics software equips maintenance teams with real-time, actionable insights. Yes, usable intelligence while the measurements are taking place, not after the fact. ASI dynamically reacts to everything involved in the alignment process. It uses predictive intelligence to enable technicians to evaluate different possible courses of action before embarking on the time-consuming task of moving a machine.

This is what maintenance teams need: innovative Adaptive Alignment products that automatically adapt to the asset, to the specific situation, and also to the needs of the team—all in real time.

The big difference between Adaptive Alignment products and an “adaptable” solution is in who does the adapting. For years, maintenance technicians have had to adapt to the limitations of various other laser alignment systems. These limitations include, for example:

  • Only available in dual laser configurations
  • Can’t provide users with instantaneous visual feedback on measurement quality during the rotation
  • Have no optimization for working with uncoupled shafts during installation
  • Can’t automatically detect and eliminate coupling backlash.

The list goes on. You quickly wonder how applicable the word “adaptable” is to these systems.

PRUFTECHNIK, on the other hand, is the first to deliver true Adaptive Alignment. We chose “adaptive” because it means “serving or able to adapt; showing or contributing to adaptation.” And this clearly describes what we have done: we’ve incorporated the adaptive capabilities into all our alignment products as an inherent feature.

PRUFTECHNIK Adaptive Alignment products have built-in intelligence that adapts to the maintenance team needs automatically and in real time. We created this functionality as a direct response to issues customers historically told us they were having on their machines.

If you’d like to see what a real Adaptive Alignment system can do, get in touch with us for a demo. We’re the only company that can show you one.

Learn more about the powerful Adaptive Alignment concept and feature set are built into PRUFTECHNIK systems at our website, where you can download the Adaptive Alignment white paper or request to speak to a specialist.

Five Essential Questions to Ask Before Investing in a Laser Shaft Alignment System

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Laser shaft alignment systems are crucial to properly aligning your machinery to ensure peak performance and extended asset life. Their pinpoint accuracy makes them the right choice for numerous industrial settings.

But all laser alignment systems are not equal. Some enable a maintenance team to complete jobs faster and with higher precision, while others require rework and sometimes guesswork that drive maintenance costs higher and possibly compromise the result.

What should you consider when deciding on a laser shaft alignment system? Here are the top five questions to ask:

Does the system require a dual-laser setup, or does it have single-laser technology?

Why this question matters: A system with a dual-laser setup requires you to adjust two lasers and two sensors, which requires more time and effort and introduces more variables.

Additionally, dual-laser systems cannot handle gross misalignments because during the measurement rotation, the laser beam moves off of the detector, and the measurement cannot be completed.

Adaptive Alignment systems with single-laser technology have a “Freeze Frame Measurement” capability. This enables measurements to be completed even when halted partway because of the amount of misalignment, then restarted, eliminating guesswork and saving time.

Does the system’s user manual ever recommend a “rough alignment” or “pre-alignment?”

Why this question matters: Systems that recommend—or require—a rough alignment cost more to operate because they demand more moves—the most time-consuming part of any alignment job. The “as found” condition is lost, and technicians have already made one move before they can even take a measurement.

 

Does the system provide visual quality factor assessment feedback to the technician in real-time as the measurement is underway, or only after the measurement is finished?

Why this question matters: Getting feedback while doing a job is a better learning experience, and it saves time. It’s important to look for an Adaptive Alignment system that offers the innovation of real-time visual feedback.

During a measurement, the user gets a quick color indicator for easy, intuitive feedback. Green indicates a good quality measurement, while blue indicates an excellent quality measurement. Even the most inexperienced users can quickly learn exactly how to take a quality measurement thanks to this feature.

 

Can a technician send measurements instantly from the point of work to colleagues elsewhere in the plant (or around the world) to consult on the next steps?

Why this question matters: Two brains are often better than one.

You may have an alignment expert on your team, but he or she cannot get to every machine in every plant. But experts can evaluate and qualify measurement data remotely—if they have access to it—and render assistance from wherever they are.

Systems without collaboration capabilities essentially cut the technician off from help, which is a major factor behind variable alignment quality. Results with these systems are of course better when performed by an expert, but can potentially be unreliable when a less experienced technician completes a job unaided.

Getting a system with collaboration built-in is a great way to unlock overall team capacity—and to ensure that even the least experienced users on a team learn from expert guidance and get high-precision results.

Does the system automatically handle uncoupled shafts without requiring manual efforts to position shafts at the correct relative angle?

Why this question matters: For assets to perform at their peak, they must be installed with care from day one.

During installation, the alignment should ideally be done with uncoupled shafts to eliminate any residual forces within the machine train. But working with uncoupled shafts is not something basic laser alignment systems can easily handle. Technicians have to resort to manual positioning to approximate the correct relative rotational angle.

In contrast, Adaptive Alignment systems, bolstered by Active Situational Intelligence (ASI), have Uncoupled Shaft Awareness. This allows for uncoupled shafts to be in any rotational position—or freely rotating—so long as the single laser hits the single sensor. The adaptive system determines the relative rotational angular positions and calculates the measurement points. With this capability, teams can achieve accurate results quickly.

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These five questions pinpoint potential red flags when considering a new laser alignment system. When laser alignment was first invented, none of them could be answered well because adaptive capabilities did not exist. Today’s capabilities require these updated questions.

Adaptive Alignment is the newest generation of laser shaft alignment. Only PRUFTECHNIK has it, and all of these advanced capabilities—which we developed by listening to our customers and focusing relentlessly on real innovation to deliver the best possible results on their rotating machinery. With more than 35 years of experience and innovation in laser shaft alignment, PRUFTECHNIK is prepared to answer any questions your maintenance team may have as you look to invest in a system that enables fast and accurate measurement. For more information, download our white paper on Adaptive Alignment technology.

 

Related articles:

https://blog.pruftechnik.com/what-it-takes-to-be-the-world-leader-in-machinery-alignment/

https://blog.pruftechnik.com/how-adaptive-alignment-tools-adapt-to-a-range-of-situations-and-challenges/

https://blog.pruftechnik.com/adaptive-alignment-how-to-solve-virtually-any-shaft-alignment-challenge/

RFID capabilities in Adaptive Alignment tools are a godsend for technicians

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When maintenance team members prepare to work on an asset, they often ask themselves “how can they tell if they have the correct alignment data for that machine?” It might seem like the answer should be obvious, but when many plants house an array of large machines, it’s not. And there’s no room for error in this situation.

Aligning a particular machine with the historical information of different assets not only wastes time but can have serious consequences, including impacting its performance. Thermal growth information, dimensions, and RPM values that are used to set coupling tolerance limits often vary and must be applied to the correct asset.

However, using RFID tags on assets in combination with Adaptive Alignment systems—such as the OPTALIGN touch, ROTALIGN touch and ROTALIGN touch EX—from PRUFTECHNIK can help solve these problems. Our systems are equipped with software to “read” asset tag data encoded with RFID, which stands for radio-frequency identification.

Get a complete alignment history of the asset

You’re probably familiar with RFID, a technology that uses electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags attached to objects automatically. It’s used for everything from access control and car key fobs to personal ID cards and asset tracking.

RFID identification software is integrated into PRUFTECHNIK systems, enabling them to automatically read a machine’s RFID tag and save relevant information. Companies that utilize these tags also provide their technicians with an alignment and maintenance history of the equipment that is helpful to all – but especially to new or inexperienced maintenance team members.

Technicians can view a complete alignment history of the asset with the connected ARC 4.0 (Alignment Reliability Center) PC software, track the alignment of individual assets over time (alignment trend), and investigate deeper causes of frequent misalignments. RFID also makes alignment data a dynamic condition monitoring parameter for asset management and condition-based maintenance programs.

Using the RFID reader and corresponding RFID tags:

  • Enables maintenance teams to clearly identify the equipment that needs to be aligned
  • Stores measurement results, machine templates, and RFID data into touch device asset data
  • Allows teams and engineers to quickly check the most recent alignment conditions
  • Automatically saves new alignment results

Built-in RFID technology is part of the powerful Adaptive Alignment feature set built into PRUFTECHNIK systems. To learn more, please visit this webpage to download our Adaptive Alignment white paper.

The benefits of performing precision alignment at installation

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precision alignment

Measuring for precise alignment when installing a coupling driven asset is a smart and cost-effective way to help assure a longer machine life — right from the beginning of its active use.

Maintenance teams that measure alignment during initial machinery installation often see benefits in machine performance, efficiency, and health.

Using PRUFTECHNIK Adaptive Alignment systems can be especially valuable during machine installation because the results are highly accurate, getting measurements can be quick, and moving the machine may not be necessary.

Here are three alignment problems that can be minimized or resolved by measuring the alignment during installation phase.

1. Soft foot

Soft foot is a commonly used industry term describing distortion of the machine frame and “feet.” It occurs when a rotating machine set on its base, frame, or soleplate is off-kilter because one or more of its “feet” fails to make contact with all of the “foot-plates” on the frame.

It is the root cause of most alignment issues and a critical aspect to check before performing an alignment. Eliminating soft foot saves substantial time and money, especially since an estimated two-thirds of all rotating machinery have soft foot conditions. Addressing it right from the beginning typically makes subsequent alignments much easier.

Additionally, if the soft foot correction is successful, the bearing and motor typically have longer lives because the frame is no longer under tension and because there’s a better vibration signature when the soft foot is eliminated. Correcting soft foot improves seal and bearing life and reduces vibration—all of which contribute to a healthier machine.

Diagnosing and correcting soft foot when installing a machine enables maintenance teams to protect against further occurrences. The soft foot diagnostics tool in Adaptive Alignment systems provide a simple, convenient way to confirm the presence of soft foot and dirive and inform the user which type of soft foot and corrective action required to remove the soft foot.

2. Bolt-bound or base-bound

During initial machine installation, it’s essential to align the motor so there is some clearance in the bolt holes.

The most logical method for preventing a bolt-bound or base-bound condition is to install the stationary and movable machines properly before any piping, ductwork, or other attachments are added.

The absolute best time to use a laser shaft alignment tool to avoid this condition is during the initial installation.

3. Pipe strain

Pipe strain is likewise best addressed when machinery is first put in place. Pipe strain occurs when piping puts stress on the machine due to poor alignment of the pipes before they are bolted up.

The amount of this stress can be measured using the Live Trend feature of Adaptive Alignment laser tools. Measurements can also be performed by watching the pump during live-move or alternatively by taking an alignment measurement but instead of then moving the machine, unbolt the pipes, and taking another set of measurements and then compare the differences between the two sets measurement results.

The objective is to determine how much influence the pipes attached to the pump have on the alignment. It’s much more effective to address pipe strain when machines are being installed because teams can easily locate and correct pipes that are poorly aligned.

Using reports as a baseline for future inspections

Adaptive Alignment systems provide documented PDF reports about the condition of alignment and the presence of soft foot or pipe strain. Optional PC software is available for storing this information, making it easy to keep a running trend of machinery condition. This type of reporting tool is invaluable, especially in new installations, because it provides baseline data to reference when performing subsequent alignments.

Get more information about Adaptive Alignment at the PRUFTECHNIK.com website. Also, learn more about the Adaptive Alignment concept and feature set in PRUFTECHNIK systems by downloading the white paper on this webpage.

What it takes to be the world leader in machinery alignment

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It’s easy to say you’re a leader. But much harder to become one — and stay one. It takes work.

To date, the legacy of PRUFTECHNIK, a division of Fluke Reliability, covers nearly 50 years of industry-leading expertise and transformative products. We invented the laser shaft alignment category and continue to innovate — delivering the industry’s first and only systems that adapt to any alignment task, asset, or user experience level.

As the world leader in alignment solutions, our innovations have been copied but never successfully matched.

Building trust

Like many companies, PRUFTECHNIK formed in 1972 because it recognized an opportunity to solve longstanding industrial machinery maintenance problems. Starting with our first product, the company began building a reputation for innovative solutions. A constant string of product “firsts,” including the invention of single-laser technology, cemented our position as the industry leader.

Here are just four of the landmark changes we have introduced over the years.

Four game-changers

  1. OPTALIGN: First laser-optical shaft alignment system in the world
  2. ROTALIGN: First shaft alignment system with SWEEP measurement method and dedicated DIM-M-RES workflow
  3. PARALIGN: First inertial parallelism measurement system for the alignment of rolls
  4. Adaptive Alignment systems: First laser shaft alignment solutions with single-laser technology and Active Situational Intelligence (ASI), which trigger their adaptability.

Major turning points

Early on, PRUFTECHNIK recognized the power of cloud-based software in enabling data sharing and team-based collaboration. We blazed new trails by integrating cloud connectivity into our products. We continue to regularly fuel research and development with innovations, many of which are patented.

Each new generation of our laser shaft alignment products has addressed seemingly unresolvable and relentless movement and measurement issues. By continuing to add inventive and highly advanced functionality using PRUFTECHNIK patented technology, our shaft alignment systems stand as the industry’s only ones capable of adapting to the situation, the asset, and the user skill and experience level of team members.

What’s so magical about Adaptive Alignment?

Adaptive Alignment system “magic” only happens when two critical elements unite—single-laser technology and Active Situational Intelligence (ASI). It is these two features (think brains and brawn) that enable the PRUFTECHNIK shaft alignment systems to adapt to the application, asset, and maintenance team member—in real time. Other laser alignment systems can’t fully adjust in this way.

Adaptive Alignment:   

  • Adapts to the situation by automatically adjusting to common challenges such as coupling backlash, environmental conditions, and gross misalignments quickly to assure precisely aligned shafts.
  • Adapts to the asset, including virtually all rotating machinery, from motor pumps to more sophisticated equipment such as machine trains, gearboxes, and Cardan shafts. ASI software provides “in the moment” feedback and direction to maintenance teams.
  • Adapts to the user level, such as a lesser-experienced technician who inadvertently makes errors in aligning a shaft. With ASI, inaccurate data is automatically removed in real time using analytics.

Adaptive Alignment unleashes your team’s capacity to restore assets to peak performance, expands support for a broader range of critical rotating asset types, and empowers your technicians to complete highly precise alignments faster and easier.

See the comparison chart to the right/left for some examples of how PRUFTECHNIK adaptive shaft alignment systems differ from others.

Contact Us

If you’d like more information on PRUFTECHNIK, click here to go to the Contact Page.

 

Four ways Adaptive Alignment differs from other alignment systems

Single-laser Adaptive Alignment systems Other laser shaft alignment systems
Require only one move to align a shaft, whether it’s a small job or a complex one. Most systems require a pre-alignment when encountering a gross misalignment, making it necessary to move machinery at least twice to align the shaft.
Contain built-in Active Situational Intelligence (ASI), detects backlash during the continuous sweep, and automatically eliminates compromised readings without jeopardizing measurements. Non-adaptive systems cannot filter out backlash, making measurements unreliable and increasing the risk of another misalignment.
Enable all levels of technicians to handle complex assets, gross misalignments, or other difficult situations. ASI software automatically corrects common errors to ensure highly reliable results the first time. When alignments are complex, technicians often must guess or perform rework; worst case, the maintenance team opts to live with the misalignment and the potential for machinery destruction.
Technicians share alignment data instantly via the cloud enabling collaboration with team experts across the globe to ensure precise shaft alignments. Other systems cannot share shaft alignment measurements instantly. The function and software that enables the capability are exclusive to PRUFTECHNIK.

 

Maintenance leaders seek out PRUFTECHNIK laser shaft alignment systems because they work. We continue to innovate to advance our products and meet industry demands.

In 2019, PRUFTECHNIK was acquired by Fluke Corporation, the world leader in electronic tools and software for measuring, managing, monitoring, and optimizing asset performance. The two organizations share many things in common — foremost is providing transformative solutions to keep your world turning.